The U.S. Marine Corps has transitioned to a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) model for the MQ-9A unmanned aircraft system, built by General Atomics' aeronautical systems business.
Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) obtained the military branch's first Reaper after three years of using the Reaper UAS under a contractor-owned, contractor-operated construct, USMC said Tuesday.
Transition to the GOCO system will allow VMU-1 to pursue organic training and qualification of aircrew for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions involving the remotely piloted aircraft.
Maj. Keenan Chirhart, executive officer of VMU-1, said the Reaper was built to perform mission sets such as multisensor imagery reconnaissance, unmanned aerial escort and electronic support functions.